Amal Clooney Urges UK To Return Elgin Marbles

Human rights barrister Amal Clooney has called on Britain to give up its "intransigence" and start talks with Greece on the return of the Elgin Marbles.

The battle for the Elgin Marbles has become one of the most contentious cultural disputes in recent history.

"This is an injustice that has persisted for too long, and in a world of intractable conflicts," the new wife of Hollywood star George Clooney said.

"Here is one that can be solved in a way that can benefit both parties and humankind altogether.

"The Greek government is in the right to ask for the return of the marbles," she told journalists as she stepped into her first post-wedding job this week.

"Greece has a just cause and it's high time for the British Museum to recognise this and return them."

The Lebanese-born barrister's remarks capped a three-day working visit to Athens to advise the Greek government on how it can best pursue its claims to win back the marble treasures, taken from the Parthenon and sold to the British Museum by Scottish diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.

As part of a legal delegation led by Geoffrey Robertson of Doughty Street Chambers, Mrs Clooney has been advising the Greeks on the dispute since 2011, insisting on a legal fight Greeks have been trying to avoid, fearing a rift in bilateral relations with Britain.

Earlier this month, though, UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural organisation called on Britain to enter into a process of mediation with the Greeks in order to settle the 200-year-old dispute.

Britain has six months - until April - to respond.

"British intransigence has for years precluded a chance of negotiation. Now is the time to right that wrong," Mrs Clooney said.

The lawyers did not divulge details of the strategy they planned to follow if Britain turned down the request.

They did not, however, rule out seeking recourse through the international courts if Britain refused to respond to UNESCO's request.

"It's an option we have to consider," said lawyer Konstantinos Tasoulas.

The ancient artefacts are statues which originally adorned the Parthenon temple in Athens, which was built in the 5th century BC.

Elgin removed about half of them between 1801 and 1805 after seeking permission from the Ottoman authorities who were then occupying Greece.

Generations of Greeks - most famously the actress and politician Melina Mercouri - have lobbied for their return.

The British Museum says it is holding the marbles, and its other treasures, "in trust for the nation and world" and insists their legal status is clearly defined in the British Museum Act.

On its website, the British Museum says: "The sculptures from the Parthenon have come to act as a focus for Western European culture and civilisation, and have found a home in a museum that grew out of the eighteenth-century 'Enlightenment', with its emphasis on developing a shared common culture that goes beyond national boundaries."